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Press Release March 28, 2024

National conservation and environmental groups respond to BLM methane waste rule

BLM rule take steps to reduce waste from routine venting and flaring of gas at well sites

In the News: CNN March 28, 2024

Biden administration strengthens Endangered Species Act protections weakened under Trump

Drew Caputo, VP of Litigation for Lands, and Wildlife, Oceans: “There’s a climate crisis and there’s also a biodiversity crisis. I think a lot of people think the climate crisis is the main driver of the biodiversity crisis — that’s not true. It’s habitat destruction.”

In the News: Gillette News Record March 28, 2024

Court rules against BLM on oil and gas lease sales

Alexandra Schluntz, Attorney, Rocky Mountain Office: “The Bureau of Land Management can’t just say, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll fix it at a later stage.’ Not when there’s evidence in the record that shows they haven’t been fixing it.”

Residents of La Oroya, Peru, hold a sign that reads "Doe Run, it is enough of environmental crimes" during a march through the streets of Lima demanding medical assistance and a halt to the pollution generated by mining in Peru. (Fotoholica Press / LightRocket via Getty Images)
Article March 28, 2024

Historic Court Decision Puts Big Polluters on Notice in Latin America

An international court ruled in favor of the people of La Oroya, Peru, finding that the government violated their right to a healthy environment.

A gray wolf howls in the woods of the the upper Midwest. (Jerry & Barb Jividen / Getty Images)
Press Release March 28, 2024

Earthjustice Responds to Biden Administration’s Final Endangered Species Act Rulemaking

Biden administration falls short of fully restoring ESA

Deadly fine particulate matter pollution, also known as soot, comes from tailpipes, smokestacks and industrial power plants. Breathing soot can cause premature death, heart disease, and lung damage. (Chris Jordan-Bloch / Earthjustice)
Press Release March 28, 2024

Communities Fight Back Against Industry Attacks on New Air Quality Standards

EPA’s updated soot standards under threat from legal challenges, potentially undermining air quality improvements for years to come

document March 28, 2024

Communities intervene to defend national air quality standards from industry attacks

Health, environmental, and community organizations, represented by Earthjustice and Clean Air Task Force, filed to intervene in support of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) recent strengthening of an air standard for fine particulate matter pollution, finalized in February. This landmark standard is designed to protect public health and would address environmental injustices but is being challenged in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit by major trade associations and 25 states.

document March 27, 2024

Sign-on Letter: EPA LMWC March 2024

. It has been over thirty years since Congress told EPA to protect the public from the harms of this incinerator pollution, and environmental justice communities are still waiting for those protections. EPA has committed to advancing equitable outcomes in environmental justice communities and building meaningful engagement with these communities. The time to deliver on those commitments is now.

document March 27, 2024

EPA Comments: LMWC Proposed Rule March 2024

EPA’s proposed revisions to its LMWC Standards come over thirty years after Congress told EPA to protect the public from the harms of incinerator pollution. The Proposed Rule is a welcome, if overdue, step in the right direction towards achieving Congress’s mandate.

Press Release March 27, 2024

Community Groups Reach Legal Settlement with KIUC, State on West Kaua‘i Hydro Project

Pō‘ai Wai Ola and Nā Kia‘i Kai raised concerns about the energy project’s impact on the Waimea River

staff March 27, 2024

Geoffrey Fettus

Geoffrey Fettus is the managing attorney of the Toxic Exposure & Health Program at Earthjustice.

In the News: Our New South March 26, 2024

Behold the Land

A discussion on environmental justice with Dominique Burkhardt, a senior attorney at Earthjustice, and DeLesslin “Roo” George-Warren, a Special Projects Coordinator for the Catawba Cultural Preservation Project

In the News: KQED March 26, 2024

San Francisco Will Continue Enforcing New-Building Gas Ban Despite Berkeley’s Repeal of Similar Rules

Matt Vespa, Attorney, Clean Energy Program: “Thankfully, since 2019, cities and local air quality agencies have developed a wide variety of policy paths to move forward, from energy codes to air quality protections, to protect their residents and help us all step into a zero-emissions future. The future is clean energy, and nothing can hold…

Cape Fear Riverkeeper Kemp Burdette collects water samples in the Cape Fear River near the Smithfield slaughter house in Tar Heel, N.C. (Justin Cook for Earthjustice)
Press Release March 26, 2024

Community, Environmental, and Animal Welfare Organizations Press EPA to Strengthen Water Pollution Control Standards for Slaughterhouses and Animal Rendering Facilities

Stronger standards would prevent hundreds of millions of pounds of pollution from reaching rivers and streams, helping to protect more than 22 million people

document March 26, 2024

EPA Comments: Slaughterhouse Clean Water Act Effluent Limitations Guidelines and Standards for MPP Point Source Category

Inadequately controlled water pollution from slaughterhouses and rendering facilities can make water unsafe for drinking, unfit for outdoor recreation, and uninhabitable for aquatic life, posing serious risks to human health and the environment, especially in vulnerable and under-resourced communities. After more than two decades, EPA finally has begun the process of strengthening water pollution control standards for these facilities, and the Agency now proposes to adopt the weakest of three regulatory options. EPA’s preferred option is inconsistent with the CWA and other federal laws.

Bitcoin mining machines in a warehouse at the Whinstone US Bitcoin mining facility in Rockdale, Texas, the largest in North America. Operations like this one have been boosted by China’s intensified crypto crackdown that has pushed the industry west. (Mark Felix / AFP via Getty Images)
feature March 25, 2024

State Legislation Alert: As Alarm Grows Over Crypto Mining’s Energy Consumption, Bitcoin Lobbyists Peddle State Bills

A new “model” bill carves out special protections for crypto miners that can threaten the grid and raise electricity rates.

In the News: San Francisco Chronicle March 25, 2024

Mountainous national monument on California-Oregon border survives major legal challenge

Kristen Boyles, Managing Attorney, Northwest Office: “It’s been many years now of litigation, fighting to protect this remarkable place, and phew, we’re done. The monument and its expansion, it’s now the law of the land. People should go visit this summer. It’s a beautiful place.”

In the News: Houston Landing March 25, 2024

EPA gives ‘minor’ polluters a free pass, creating a regulatory void in Channelview

James Pew, Attorney, Washington, D.C., Office: “Just getting the EPA to use the authority it has had all along would yield huge benefits.”